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Sabotage Studio has unveiled Sea of Stars: Dawn of Equinox, a major free update that will add a new three-player local co-op mode, overhaul combat, revamp the prologue, and much, much more.
Dawn of Equinox releases on November 12, and again, it’s a completely free update to the game. Sea of Stars is available for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
It’s worth noting that this is separate the Throes of the Watchmaker DLC – also a free release for owners of the game, available in spring 2025.
Here is the overview of the Dawn of Equinox update from Sabotage Studios:
- Brand new local cooperative game – Sea of Stars’ story will be playable in its entirety for up to three players, with allies traversing the world together and mastering a new Cooperative Timed Hits battle mechanic.
- Combat 2.0 – The addition of Mystery Locks creates a new gameplay loop that reveals the ways to break enemies’ spells each time a new type is encountered in battle. Along with the ‘Reveal’ features added to some of the playable cast’s special abilities, Combo Points are now left over after battles, offering new ways to open certain encounters or test different damage types on enemies to reveal their locks . An extensive balancing pass has also been created to reflect both these new changes and player feedback since launch.
- A renewed prologue – By implementing battles for the young versions of our heroes, the updated flow does away with the flashback structure that started in their childhood, including direct action in the prologue.
- Bonus cinematic scene – An all-new cutscene has been added to highlight a pivotal moment in the original adventure, called ‘Paths on Water’.
- A relic of Speedrunner mode – This new item activates a series of functions useful for people who want to set a new personal record or world record.
- Difficulty presets – Three difficulty levels are now available when starting a new game, which are preset based on the game’s relics. New relics have also been added, both for quality of life and difficulty adjustment.
- Improved Parrot Relic – Sea of Stars’ secret-tracking parrot has learned a few new tricks to better help players track down overlooked challenges and collectibles.
- Quebec localization – An extensive French-Canadian translation for Quebec’s best Solstice Warriors.
- Improvements in quality of life – A constellation of general updates and improvements for the entire Sea of Stars campaign.
One of the best indie games of 2023, we had high praise for its tribute to classic JRPGs. In our Sea of Stars review, Nic said: “